Jump to content

Mountain v Southwest


redtiger
 Share

Recommended Posts

All this is good stuff we didn't move back until the late seventies. A lot of information I am learning for first time, thanks for everyone's memory and time spent researching. The 1970's to 1990's were the Golden Age of Southwest Va. Football, for twenty plus years, we were Kings of the World!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

How about a large district, with geographic divisions (north-south, east-west, insert other name)? Size-wize, it may be the same as either two separate districts, or a region, but the mandatory scheduling could ease many burdens. Plus, winning would be quite an accomplishment. This format is the same as college conferences, but without a championship game. There is still the possibility of shared titles (without a tiebreaker), but from that point the real goal becomes, region/state titles.

Thanks to all for the historic information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Maybe the district was named something else back then, but Saltville (R.B. Worthy) was always in the same district as Graham, Grundy, Abingdon and Tazewell when I was there in 1967 and before.  But I always thought it was the Southwest District.  Would love to see more info on that. 

 

Not saying it wasn't a member prior to the 1970 VHSL 3-class system.  As a matter of fact, Saltville was in the district in the 60s and prior years...the district consisted of Graham, Tazewell, Richlands, Grundy, Marion, Saltville, and Bristol.  Looking back at those years, it was referred to as "Saltville" in those years, not R.B. Worthy...not sure when it changed to RBW but it was never listed as such on any of Graham's past schedules when Saltville was in the district.  Also, as I stated above, the schedules showed "Bristol"...anyone know when it was changed from Bristol to Virginia High?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Not saying it wasn't a member prior to the 1970 VHSL 3-class system.  As a matter of fact, Saltville was in the district in the 60s and prior years...the district consisted of Graham, Tazewell, Richlands, Grundy, Marion, Saltville, and Bristol.  Looking back at those years, it was referred to as "Saltville" in those years, not R.B. Worthy...not sure when it changed to RBW but it was never listed as such on any of Graham's past schedules when Saltville was in the district.  Also, as I stated above, the schedules showed "Bristol"...anyone know when it was changed from Bristol to Virginia High?

 

According to the history posted on their web site (<http://www.bvps.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=415362&type=d&pREC_ID=911310>), the official name has been "Virginia High School" since 1915.  I think "Bristol" was just a convention of informality used by the media and adopted by schools that have a longstanding relationship with the institution.  Kind of similar, I suppose, to the way some people still use "Beaver" to refer to Bluefield High School.  Use of the official name probably supplanted "Bristol" when John Battle was built (since they are both served by Bristol zip codes).

 

Besides Saltville/R.B. Worthy other examples include Gate City/Shoemaker and Abingdon/William King.  There is some debate about the appropriateness of assigning overall history to present schools that are a derivative of historical ones.  I'm not convinced that it's appropriate to credit Abingdon with the historical record for William King, because the enrollment base for those schools was different.  However, I have no problem with giving Gate City credit for Shoemaker, because my understanding is that the source of the student bodies were basically the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
 
 

Not saying it wasn't a member prior to the 1970 VHSL 3-class system.  As a matter of fact, Saltville was in the district in the 60s and prior years...the district consisted of Graham, Tazewell, Richlands, Grundy, Marion, Saltville, and Bristol.  Looking back at those years, it was referred to as "Saltville" in those years, not R.B. Worthy...not sure when it changed to RBW but it was never listed as such on any of Graham's past schedules when Saltville was in the district.  Also, as I stated above, the schedules showed "Bristol"...anyone know when it was changed from Bristol to Virginia High?

Thanks,  @Gman.  I believe Saltville officially changed the name of the high school from "Saltville High" to "R.B. Worthy" when the new school was built in 1957, but even the Saltville residents still called it "Saltville High School" for many years thereafter.  I moved there in 1960, and always knew it as R.B. Worthy until it became "Northwood H.S." back in 1987.  The Saltville (or R.B. Worthy) "Shakers" will always be one of the most interesting and unusual nicknames I have ever known.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Thanks, @Gman. I believe Saltville officially changed the name of the high school from "Saltville High" to "R.B. Worthy" when the new school was built in 1957, but even the Saltville residents still called it "Saltville High School" for many years thereafter. I moved there in 1960, and always knew it as R.B. Worthy until it became "Northwood H.S." back in 1987. The Saltville (or R.B. Worthy) "Shakers" will always be one of the most interesting and unusual nicknames I have ever known.

Why was the name changed from RB Worthy to Northwood? Did the build a new school or was there a consolidation or did someone just not like the name RB Worthy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Why was the name changed from RB Worthy to Northwood? Did the build a new school or was there a consolidation or did someone just not like the name RB Worthy?

 

I do know they consolidated Saltville and Rich Valley, not sure if any other schools were involved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
 
 
 

I have some friends who officiate basketball games in NET and they said when his daughters played high school basketball that he was quite a douchebag to them! Him and Dwight didn't like each other.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 

Why was the name changed from RB Worthy to Northwood? Did the build a new school or was there a consolidation or did someone just not like the name RB Worthy?

This is from a very good source at Northwood. " A committee of students from from both schools (Rich Valley and R.B. Worthy) met to decide name, colors, and mascot.  Salt Valley was one of the favorites as was North Smyth. They settled on Northwood as not to show any favoritism.  The name was Panthers from the start due to the wildlife in the area.  The colors were navy and gold (like Pitt) but it offended the RBW side because of RV gold.  It was then changed to silver.

 

I was in grade school when the consolidation happened, but what I have heard from some of the people that were supposedly on that committee the story is very similar.  The biggest difference is how "Northwood" came about.  It was told to me that the committee was sitting under a picnic shelter behind the football stadium deciding on names and one of the students laid down on a picnic table and was looking up at the rafters  and one of the studs had "Northwoods Lumber Company" stamped on it. That person suggested "Northwood" and it was voted on.

The two schools were bitter rivals, there was no way that the Rich Valley people were going to let them keep the name and mascot of a school they hated, espically when they were being forced out of their own high school to consolidate with R.B. Worthy.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 

I just got this info from a Saltville friend who is very knowledgeable about Saltville and R.B. Worthy.

 

When districts were created, SHS was in District 7. From the fall of '56 to spring of '65, we were in the Southwest District. Back then, we were the smallest school in the Southwest District because the VHSL would allow schools to compete in a district with larger schools if they felt they could do so. We won or shared the Southwest District football title three times for the 9 years we were in it. Graham, the next smallest school, won or shared it at least 4 times while we were in it. In the fall of '65, we were placed in a new District 6. In the fall of '70, a new Hogoheegee District was created that we are still competing in.

TBT - The 1966 R. B. Worthy Shakers...Saltville, Virginia...undefeated District VI Champs (10-0)

 

The '66 Shakers was the only Saltville team to go 10-0. Until 1970, there were no playoffs in football.

post-12767-0-93831800-1490820364_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

TBT - The 1966 R. B. Worthy Shakers...Saltville, Virginia...undefeated District VI Champs (10-0)

 

The '66 Shakers was the only Saltville team to go 10-0. Until 1970, there were no playoffs in football.

1966 R.B. Worthy Shakers.jpg

That entire team looks big, but #73 looks like Goliath. Please tell me this man went to the NFL...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
 
 
 

Big Tom of "Survivor" fame was apparently the big man on campus at Rich Valley during his hay day. 

 

His son was a solid athlete as well, I think he played linebacker at Cumberland College.

He was NAIA All-American there.  He was a solid athlete.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...